Heel



Feb. 6, 1923. 1,444,677..

G. ,F. FISCHER.

T HEEL. FILE? NOV. 22. 1920.

WITNESSES INVENTOR v I WWRNEYS Patented Feb. 65, i923}.

l lFlED stares arisen GEORGE F. FISCHER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

HEEL.

Application filed November 22, 1920. Serial No. 425,612.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, GEORGE F. FISCHER, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Rochester, county of Monroe, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Heels, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to boots and shoes, and more particularly to theheels thereof, and has for its object to provide animproved and novelconstruction in which the heel is provided with a tread block adjustableto fixed positions outwardly of the'heel to compensate for wear and toprotect the heel itself against contact with the surface being walkedupon. Other objects of my invention will appear from the descriptionhereinafter set forth and the features of novelty thereof will bepointed out in the appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a specific embodiment ofmy in vention without defining its limits, Figure 1 is a bottom view ofa shoe showing my improved heel; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionthereof; Fig. 3 is a perspective view "of the heel itself, and Fig. 4cis a perspective view of the tread block and socket member.

The heel itself may be of any suitable construction and of any suitablematerial such as leather, wood, fibre, celluloid, etc. or said heel. maybe made of a suitable metal, preferably aluminum, and, as shown,comprises a main section or heel shell 5 which is formed with aninwardly extending recess 6, preferably of a diameter to include themajor portion of the main section 5. If the material of which the heelshell 5 is made is incapable of being threaded or diflicult to thread,the recess 6 may be provided with a metallic lining 7, constructed ofdrawn steel or spring brass, preferably in the form of an inverted cup,which has its peripheral edge flared outwardly as indicated at 7* andinengagement through out with the peripheral edge ofthe recess 6 as shownin 2, the bottom 7* of this lining 7 lying in surface engagement withthe inner end of said recess 6, and. thus, in addition to its otherfunctions, serving as a reinforcement not only for the peripheral sidewall of said recess but also for the bottom thereof. If the latterextends completely through the heel section 5 as it may, the bottom 7*serves to'close said recess, the lining 7 in any, case acting as a rein=paper, rubber, Y

forcement for the heel. Furthermore, the metallic lining may serve as amedium whereby the heel section 5 is secured to the shoe; that is tosay, by passing fastening devices such as screws 8 through the bottom 7and into the sole of the shoe, the lining 7 isfastened in place and bythe action of its peripheral flare 7 is caused to draw the heel sectionfirmly against the shoe sole. If the recess 5 includes a bottom as inthe illustration, said screws or other fastening devices will pass alsothrough said heel bottom. The metallic lining 7, generally speaking, isscrew-threaded wherebythe recess 6 becomes an internally screw-threadedrecess as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; if the material of which the heelshell is made is metal, the latter itself is screw-threaded interiorlyof the recess 6, in which case, the lining 7 is omitted. The treadsection of the heel comprises a tread block 9 constructed of rubber,wood, fibre, paper, and leather or a combination of these materials andcombined with a socket member which, as shown in Figs. 1 andd, may takethe form of a cap 10 of metal extending over the inner end face of saidtread block and having a peripheral screw-threaded flange projectingover the periphery of said tread block The said peripheral flange-is ofrestricted-dimensmns with respect to, the tread block 9 so that themajor portion of said. tread block projects outwardly beyond'the cap, asshown in Fig. 4.

The tread block 9 may be secured in the cap 10 in any convenient manner;for instance, if the tread block 9 isconstructed of rubber, bolts andnuts 11 may be utilized for this purpose, the nuts in such case beingembedded in the rubber and thebolts passing through suitable aperturesinto connection. with. said nuts, as shown in Fig. 2. If, on the otherhand,'the tread block 9 is made of leather or other material, screws 11or equivalent fasteningdevices may be used to secure said tread block9and socket member together. The tread block 9 with its socket member 10is of a relatively large diameter corresponding to that of the recess 6and is arranged to screw into said reccss as shown in Fig. 2, recesses12 being provided, if desired, in said tread block for the accommodationof a suitable implement or tool whereby manipulation of the tread blockis facilitated.

- As shown in Fig. 2, the tread block 9 projects beyond the lowersurface of he heel and provides a t d which is of approxh mately thesame dimensions as the customary heel and thus atl'oz": .-lir1r supportwhen the shoe is worn, in contradistiuction to devices in the nature ofstuds located at spaced intervals upon the heel. As the tread block 9gradually worn down, the same may be adjusted to a new operativeposition by simply rotating said tread block in a direction to cause theco-o1erating screw-threads of the'lining 7 and the socket men'iber 10 tomove said tread block outwardly relatively to the recess 6. Because ofthe positive connection between the tread block and the heel through themedium of the aforesaid screw-threads, each adjustment of said treadblock is a fixed adjustment in which the block occupies a positionstationary with respect to the main section 5 and yet is easily"manipulated to bring it toxa new position when this is required.Because of the relatively small size of the flange of the cap 10, alarge range of adjustment is provided and the greater portion of thetread block 9 is capable of being utilized, that is to say, effectiveadjustment of the tread block may be had until the flange of the cap 10begins to project out- Waij'dly beyond the lining T. When this happens,the tread block may be completely unscrewed from the recess and a newone substituted which itself is capable of the adjustment so fardescribed or as pre ferred, a new tread block 9 may be fastened in thecap 10 so that it does not become necessary to discard the socket membereach time a new tread block is required. With the arrangement setfortluthe heel, or rather the main section or heel shell 5 thereof, isprotected from. contact with the street or other surface being walkedupon and thus maintains its original. shape and height while thepossibility of its becoming worn down or crooked is effectuallyeliminated. At the same time, the heel block, particu larly whenconstructed of resilient material. provides a cushion treadcorresponding to that of the customary rubber heels and at the sametime, because of ts relati ely large size corresponding, approx ate y,to the dimensions of the net heel, provides firm-and secure tread :siwhich squarely meets face being wad upon and prey lar distortion of theshoe in V0 Alli}; frolic. which a turned ankle or other injury mightresult.

in order to fully appreciate and. understand the importance of theimprovement well as the novelty of the subject matter described andillustrated in this present application for Letters Patent, it is necessary, first of all, to center attention upon the materials from whichthe heel-shells are to ho s were, 0 .n

the rear wall of the heel shell thin-as was necessary, the same becomessomewhat unstable.

Now in order to overcome this defect, a means had to be devised forovercoming it. To this end the lining or cup was conceived and adaptedfor the purpose of stabilizing the hee shell. This being done, anotherdifficulty presented itself; owing to the thinness of the rear sectionof the heel shell, the usual fastening agents such as nails or adhesiveglues could not be successfully employed, so after a great deal ofexperiment ing, the lining or cups were so shaped as to serve both as astabilizing means for the heel shell, and as a fastening agent wherebythe heel shell is secured to the sole of a boot or shoe. In themanufacture of the heel shells, especially when rubber, both hard orsoft, fibre, pressed paper, celluloid org-uttw percha is used, thismaterial is placed into moulds along with the lining or cups whether thelatter are plain or threaded, and both are pressed and moulded together,so that upon leaving the moulds, they are a finished article ofcommerce, ready for use upon boots or shoes without further labor.

The device may be easily applied to existing heels, is simple invconstruction and application and provides an ellicie'nt arrangementwhereby the original construc tion of the heel is preserved and the lifethereof is materially prolonged.

Various changes in the specific form shown and described may be madewithin the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

1 claim: heel shell proieter to include sale shell, screw vlded with r.v the major po 1 r threaded lining 111 said .GCGSS, screwthreaded,tively siiallow cap arra ed to fit said lining, a tcead block ofcorrespondingly large diameter fixed in cap and projecting beyond thesame in an axial direction, said cap being arranged to be screwedoutwardlyrelatively to said recess, whereby said tread block isadjustable to fixed positions to compensate for wear.

2. In a shoe, a heel comprising a heel shell provided with a recess, acup-shaped screw threaded lining in said recess having a peripheralflare in engagement with the peripheral edge at said recess, fastening;de with said lining wherehy said tread block 10 vlces passing throughthe bottom of said achustable outwardly to compensate tor hnnw Wherebsaid er1 )heral flare 1s Wear.

drawn against said peripheral edge to se- In testimony whereof I havehereunto set cure said lining in place and. to draw the my hand.

heel shell firmly against the sole of the shoe GEORGE F. FISCHER. and atread block externally screw-threaded Vitnesses:

throughout only a part of its periphery and A. F. M. DAVIs,

arranged in screw-threaded engagement F LOYD S. FISCHER.

